CHICAGO—Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) says the Harris–Walz campaign has the same energy behind it as some of American history’s most electorally successful Democrats.
"This campaign is electric," Markey told The Epoch Times at the conclusion of the second day of the convention.
He said Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign has “the energy of Obama’s in 2008 and Jack Kennedy’s in 1960.”
The second day of the Democratic National Convention is complete and has been gaveled out.
The convention will resume at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Former President Barack Obama made a plea for national unity during his speech, saying “the ties that bind us together are still there."
“We still coach little league and look out for our elderly neighbors,” Obama said. “We still feed the hungry in churches, and mosques, and synagogues, and temples. We share the same pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold.
“Because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that’s bitter and divided. We want something better. We want to be better.”
CHICAGO—Former President Barack Obama says Vice President Kamala Harris is ready to be president.
“America is ready for a new chapter,” he said during his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. “America's ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”
“And Kamala Harris is ready for the job. This is a person who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a chance.
CHICAGO—Former President Barack Obama said that in spite of the enthusiasm generated for Democrat nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, he thinks the presidential race in November will be close.
“It will be a fight … for all the incredible energy we've been able to generate over the last few weeks, for all the rallies and the memes, this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country,” he said.
The former president touted what he described as the strengths of Harris’s character and the pros of the Democrat platform, such as Medicare for all, lowered health costs, and expanded abortion access.
CHICAGO—Former President Barack Obama praised President Joe Biden’s legacy during his speech at the Democratic National Convention, and lauded Biden’s decision to leave the race.
Obama took the stage Tuesday night to roaring applause.
CHICAGO—Former First Lady Michelle Obama said that Vice President Kamala Harris is “more than ready” to be president.
“Kamala went out and she worked hard in school, graduating from an HBCU, earning her law degree at a state school," Obama said in a speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night.
“And then she went on to work for the people, fighting to hold lawbreakers accountable, strengthening the rule of law, fighting [for] … better wages, cheaper prescription drugs, a good education, decent health care, child care, elder care for middle class households all the way up to become vice president of the United States of America.
CHICAGO—During her speech at the Democratic National Convention, former First Lady Michelle Obama said, “something magical is in the air.”
“You know, we're feeling it here in this arena, but it's spreading all across this country. We love a familiar feeling that's been buried too deep or far too long.”
CHICAGO—On the second day of the Democratic National Convention, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff delivered a speech centered around his family and his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris.
He detailed the story of how he met Harris on a blind date, their first phone conversation, and their first date.
“This Thursday will be our 10th wedding anniversary,” Emhoff said. “That same night, I'll be hearing my wife, Kamala Harris, accept your nomination for president of the United States.”
Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles, who described himself as “a lifelong Republican,” told the Democratic National Convention, “I feel more at home here than in today’s Republican Party.
“The Grand Old Party has been kidnapped by extremists and devolved into a cult,” Giles said.
In recent years, Giles has on several occasions broken from the populist wing of the Republican Party, represented by former President Donald Trump and his political allies.
Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks said Kamala Harris helped bring criminal justice reform program “Back on Track” to her state.
Harris piloted the program in 2005 when she was attorney general of California, which reportedly dropped repeat offenses by 90 percent for those who completed the course.
Illinois Gov. Pritzker delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, pushing back against criticism of “woke” policies. He aimed at Trump and Republicans for opposing abortion, alternative energy, gender transition, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“Let's be clear, it's not ‘woke’ that limits economic growth, it's weird,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker, who was once considered a viable contender as Harris's running mate, defended the Democrat platform.
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s campaign ended July close to owing more money than it had on hand.
On Aug. 20, the principal campaign committee Team Kennedy told the Federal Election Commission it ended July with about $3.9 million in cash on hand and about $3.5 million in debts and obligations. In the same month, the campaign spent more than it raised. It reported taking in about $5.6 million and using about $7.3 million during the month.
Meanwhile, the Kennedy-allied hybrid PAC American Values 2024 told the regulator it ended July with about $14.4 million in cash on hand. However, it raised only about $89,000 in July while spending $1.7 million. American Values's disclosure statement said it entered August with about $196,000 in debts and obligations.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is confident that the Democrats will gain seats in Congress this November election, reinforcing a Harris–Walz victory.
“I am telling all of you now we're going to hold the Senate again, and we're going to pick up seats,” Schumer said
Schumer said he correctly predicted Democrat wins in the 2022 midterms, and that a similar victory this year would result in economic and job gains, increased abortion access, and other Democrat platform wins, especially if Harris clinches the presidency in November.
As Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped her speech in Milwaukee, she stopped to address a medical emergency in the crowd.
She called for a medic and asked the attendees to clear a path. It wasn’t clear what happened to the audience member.
“Okay, we’re going to be okay,” she said after medics reached the person affected.
As Democrats celebrated Vice President Kamala Harris's official selection as their presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump's main allied super PAC said it had received another $50 million check from Republican megadonor Timothy Mellon.
On Aug. 20, Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump's campaign, told the Federal Election Commission it cashed a $50 million check from Mellon on July 15.
Mellon, an heir to the Mellon family fortune, is a reclusive donor who rarely speaks to the press or appears in public.
Moments after delegates in Chicago officially nominated Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, she appeared on video from a Milwaukee rally to address the crowd.
Harris said she was honored to be the party’s nominee.
“This is a people-powered campaign, and together we will chart a new way forward, a future for freedom, opportunity, of optimism, and faith. So to everyone in Chicago and across America, thank you.”
CHICAGO—Police have officially declared ongoing protests outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as unlawful.
Earlier Tuesday evening, violent clashes between dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters and an army of police officers resulted in the arrest of at least three individuals.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have overcome the final ceremonial hurdle to formalize the Democratic ticket.
The 4,695 voting delegates included few defections.
Thirty-five delegates—including delegates from Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Walz’s home state of Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington—voted present. One delegate from Iowa was absent.
CHICAGO—Pro-Palestinian protestors are clashing with police officers outside of the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention is being held.
The clash began after a crowd of protesters pushed their way through a thin line of reporters to a police line. The crowd was quickly pushed back at that point, and the Chicago Police Department established a security perimeter.
CHICAGO—Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he doesn’t see similarities between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton for that matter. But that doesn’t bother him.
“I think she's her own candidate. I think she's running her own race, and I think she's going to win her race on her merits,” Moore told The Epoch Times on the floor of the Democratic National Convention.
A ceremonial roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention for Vice President Kamala Harris’s nomination has begun.
Harris was formally nominated earlier this month in a virtual roll call vote.
CHICAGO—Richard Levik, a pro-Israel Democrat, told The Epoch Times outside of the United Center that he is unhappy with what he describes as “equivocation” by Democrats on the Israel–Hamas conflict.
“I think that the stance taken has been very equivocating on an issue that seems pretty clear to me,” Levik said. “One side went in in the morning, raped women, murdered over 1,200 people, kidnapped 250 … [and] burned babies alive, and it’s disgusting. Someone needs to say something. And once again, no one is saying it.”
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who served in Trump’s White House between 2019 and 2020, gave her backing to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I wasn’t just a Trump supporter,” Grisham said. “I was a true believer.”
President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, backed Vice President Kamala Harris during an early speech on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.
Notably, the endorsement was made in a race in which Schlossberg’s great uncle, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is also competing. About a dozen Kennedys publicly spoke out against Kennedy's run for president and backed President Joe Biden several months ago.
Schlossberg said his grandfather "inspired a new generation to ask what they could do for our country.”
The Democratic National Committee has released the finalized speaker list for the second night of its convention in Chicago, under the theme “A Bold Vision for America’s Future.”
Vice President Kamala Harris will not be present at the convention, instead hosting a rally in Milwaukee around 9:00 p.m. ET.
All times listed below are in Eastern.
Former President Donald Trump shared his vision for a “crime-free America” before an audience with a heavy police presence in Howell, Michigan, on Aug. 20.
After acknowledging numerous police officials, Trump said officers are “under assault and they have a lot of difficulty with the laws of our land.
"They have to be given back their rights and their dignity; they have to be able to do their job,” he said.
CHICAGO—Aside from a Harris presidency, what Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wants most out of the election is for more young people to step up.
“If you set aside just the outcome, what I would love to see is young people very, very engaged,” Kaine told The Epoch Times. The senator, who is closing out his second term, is hoping voters will give him the green light for a third this November.
CHICAGO—The departure of President Joe Biden from the 2024 presidential race, alongside the threat of potentially violent protests at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), has prompted many to compare this year to the hectic 1968 DNC.
Lewis Goldstein, a delegate from New York during the 2024 convention, was also present at the 1968 DNC.
That chaotic convention was marked by an internecine struggle among Democrats in the wake of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s late departure from the race—and by anti-war protests that turned violent.
CHICAGO—In remarks to the DNC’s Veteran and Military Families Council, Gwen Walz spoke about her husband Tim’s military service.
Republicans have said the vice presidential nominee has stolen valor through his comments, or omissions, on his military record, saying he implied he had served in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) told The Epoch Times he "celebrated" when President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21.
Phillips, who briefly ran a longshot campaign against Biden, during which he primarily questioned the candidate’s age and fitness for another term, said he was happy to see his "fundamental mission" completed.
Phillips said had Biden stayed in the race, the Democratic National Convention could well be a "funeral" with the party's candidate entering the home stretch of the presidential race as a clear underdog. Instead, he said, the Chicago event is the "rebirth of a party."
The campaign of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not received a fair chance at winning the election, according to his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, leading the campaign to consider the option of forming a new party or joining forces with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump.
Shanahan, an entrepreneur and attorney, told the podcast host that the “tens of millions of dollars” she put into her own campaign wasn’t intended to make Kennedy a “spoiler” in the 2024 race.
North Carolina no longer “leans Republican,” and joins six other battleground states in the "toss up" category for the presidential election, according to election forecaster Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
“This is the first time this cycle that we have moved any electoral votes away from the Republican column into the Toss-up column,” Sabato’s states on its website.
“With this, the number of electoral votes at least leaning to Trump is now 219, down from 235. We previously did this to Democrats earlier in the cycle, when we moved Pennsylvania and then Michigan from their column, reducing their 'at least leaning' total from 260 down to the current 226.”
Speaking in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 20, a city where rioters torched and destroyed many buildings four years ago, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), said former President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown that he is the law-and-order choice for president.
Trump surged federal help to Kenosha when the city was struggling through “terrible riots after a police shooting,” Vance said. That action and others show his unwavering support for police, Vance said.
He said a Trump–Vance administration would end “sanctuary cities” shielding illegal immigrants, deport violent illegal aliens, stop amnesty, and seek the death penalty for drug dealers.
CHICAGO—Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinan protesters at a sideline event near the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Tuesday.
During an appearance at the Women's Caucus, a small number of protesters apparently aligned with the organization Code Pink held up banners and chanted "stop killing women in Gaza."
President Joe Biden didn't get on stage at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago until nearly midnight Tuesday in Washington.
The Democratic Party is blaming "raucous applause interrupting speaker after speaker" for the delays and cancellations. A performance from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer James Taylor and other speakers were also cut from the Aug. 19 program.
In a statement distributed to the media on Aug. 20 by convention officials, Democratic Party leaders said they are "proud of the electric atmosphere in our convention hall."
CHICAGO—In a Tuesday morning press conference, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling and other officials provided details on Monday's protests, including the breach of a fence in Park 578 just north of the Democratic National Convention site.
Snelling said 13 arrests had been made, but not all were in connection with the fence breach. Charges, he said, included criminal trespass, resisting and obstructing, and aggravated battery of police officers. He did not provide the names of those arrested.
CHICAGO—Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) spoke in support of former President Trump’s campaign and brought attention to increases in crime across the country during a press conference at the Trump International Hotel in Chicago on Aug. 20.
Donalds pointed to statistics comparing homicide rates in New York City, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, and Chicago, where murders have spiked as evidence that the current administration is failing to protect public safety.
CHICAGO—After President Joe Biden reiterated his support for Vice President Kamala Harris in his speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, delegates and voters say they are viewing it as the passing of the torch to the next generation.
"The old Democrats, which I've been a part of for a long time, are passing the torch to the new Democrats, and it's going to make a difference," Piyush Seth, platform delegate from Pittsburgh, told The Epoch Times. "It was a very smooth transition."
"President Biden is a very humble guy, and with his humbleness, he's done a tremendous service for the country," Seth said. "I'm very happy about what's happened, and I think the Democratic Party going forward is going to be much stronger."
CHICAGO—The second day of the Democratic National Convention will feature a speaker from the Republican Party who openly stands against their party’s nominee, former President Donald Trump.
John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, was confirmed as one of Tuesday’s speakers, along with former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt).
“We're not taking a single community for granted,” said Harris–Walz communications director Michael Tyler during a press briefing on Aug. 20.
The last two-term Democrat president will anchor the primetime schedule on the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Following Monday's speech by his former lieutenant and current President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama are both expected to speak at the party's convention on the evening of Aug. 20. Representatives of the Democratic Party confirmed the Tuesday night schedule during a morning press conference.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to appear at a rally in nearby Milwaukee at about 8 p.m. CDT on Aug. 20.
CHICAGO—Hundreds of Democratic Party delegates met at the Palmer House Hilton hotel in Chicago Aug. 20 to celebrate President Joe Biden’s convention speech and to strategize for high voter turnout in November.
One platform delegate who has attended three national conventions said the energy during the convention on the first night was electrifying.
“I think the unity was amazing. This is the most unified I’ve ever seen us,” Piyush Seth, of Pittsburgh, told The Epoch Times. “If we can get the vote out, that’s what matters, and Democrats will win.”
CHICAGO—President Joe Biden, who was one month ago expected to secure his re-nomination at this week’s Democratic National Convention, instead delivered a speech passing the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I have five months left in my presidency, and I have a lot left to do. And I intend to get it done,” Biden said.
“I love my job, but I love my country more.”
CHICAGO—Day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) kicked off with excitement as delegates and attendees listened to speeches from major lawmakers and leaders from the Democratic Party.
Amid remarks from President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, protesters gathered outside the perimeter of the United Center to demonstrate against the Biden-Harris administration’s military support for Israel during the Israel–Hamas war.
Here are five takeaways from day one of the DNC.